At the current exhibition, India and the World: A History in Nine Stories, at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sanghralaya, there’s a meticulously created drawing of the Mughal emperor Jahangir, who reigned in India between 1605–1627. Jahangir is shown within his court seated on a diwan, dressed in his finery. What’s unusual about this particular work is that it’s a copy by the celebrated Dutch artist Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn. Emperor Jahangir was fascinated with European portraits that promoted Royal authority. And courtly life — often the focus of Mughal miniature paintings — fascinated Rembrandt. “But he didn’t make just one Mughal painting; he made 23 of them that are closely based on Indian prototypes. Rembrandt has paid great attention to the Mughal clothing, but has altered the perspective to provide a greater sense of depth in keeping with European artistic style,” says art historian and curator Dr Stephanie Schrader. “Historically, in fact, all of Frans Hal’s Mughal paintings were also thought to be created by Rembrandt. But my research found out, that wasn’t the case.”

Rembrandt’s careful study and close imitation of the Mughal compositions is testament to the fact that he had access to paintings created between 1610 and 1655 by Mughal artists. The J Paul Getty Museum curator was pleasantly surprised when she first stumbled upon Rembrandt’s drawing of Shah Jahan and Dara Shikoh at the museum, in 1996. “Getty owns nine of the Rembrandt drawings and this is one of them. I knew it was different. I wanted to know what he knew and this led me to the path,” she shares ahead of a lecture on the same subject at CSMVS. “In the Shah Jahan and Dara Shikoh drawing, for instance, extremely refined lines convey two male figures facing each other. Their tight-sleeved coats, long skirts, French waistbands, elaborate jewellery adorning their ears, and feather turbans distinguish these men as Mughal aristocrats.”

Schrader’s research suggests that Rembrandt — known for his paintings of the Dutch countryside, biblical scenes infused with poignant psychological drama, expressive head studies and charming portraits — made eight drawings of Shah Jahan, who lived around the same time as him.

But how did the Dutch draughtsman have access to paintings created in the Mughal era? “Back then, the Dutch were trading with the Mughal empire and that’s how some of the prints reached the country,” she shares. “These Mughal paintings were collected. And Rembrandt was interested in Mughal portraiture; trying to figure out their costume and jewellery and use for artistic inspiration.”

In that, he introduced his own touch. If one looks closely, Schrader says, he never depicts the feet in the same way as the Mughal paintings. “They never stood in the same fashion,” she says. “But he kept it similar — you can recognise the portraits — to the styles. I think this work is a tribute to another dramatically different culture that he respected. It’s a record of a culture he doesn’t know, but he reflected upon it.”

The artist also used Asian paper to create these drawings, which he never used for any other drawing. “Again, he had access to Asian paper because of trade. The Dutch East India Company were bringing paper from all over. They gave a certain level of importance to him because he’s finding the best available paper to make them,” she says.

Incidentally, Rembrandt wasn’t the only Dutch artist to look at Mughal art. The Mayor of Amsterdam had a collection of 417 Mughal and Deccani paintings. “They were considered important, wondrous paintings that they wanted to have in their collection. They also collected Japanese and Chinese art and works from all the places where they were trading. Art was a way of solidifying those relationships,” she says.

During his lifetime, Rembrandt’s work earned him a great fortune and he lived in a grand house in Amsterdam, which has become a major tourist hub today. “He wanted to show his erudition and the fact that he’s a connoisseur and that he didn’t have to leave Amsterdam to learn about the world,” she explains. “Many artists would go to Italy and around. He never left the Netherlands because the world came to him and he collected work and then imitated it. He wanted to show himself as international and cosmopolitan.”

However, as Schrader points out, “Mughal paintings weren’t the only ones Rembrandt copied. He copied Leonardo Da Vinci, for instance. Rembrandt lived his artistic life full of passion and curiosity. His quest for new visual experiences was insatiable. This is what sets him apart from his contemporaries, such as Frans Hals and Vermeer.”

Like most Dutch men, Rembrandt too maintained an inventory of everything he owned in his collection. “And that’s how we know about the collection in his house, even after he went bankrupt and sold most of his collection,” Schrader says.

The 23 Mughal drawings were kept together until 1747 when they were sold at an auction by British artist and critic Jonathan Richardson. “That’s how these drawings were disseminated to various institutions such as the British Museum, Harvard University and Getty Museum,” says Schrader, who is working towards an exhibition of all of Rembrandt’s drawings paired alongside the Mughal paintings with a similar composition at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles in March. Vis-à-vis, the exhibition will also look at Mughal painters who were inspired by Dutch prints. “For instance, you will find a pancake maker, which is a very Dutch subject, in a Mughal painting,” she says, before adding some trivia, “the Mughal artists were looking at Dutch art before Rembrandt was even looking at Mughal art.”

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